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TMU student recounts assault on group of Jews and Israelis at campus event
Hate crime investigators are probing a recent incident where a stranger wearing a balaclava and sunglasses threw an open carton of milk at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students supporting Israel.
“The milk was splattered everywhere,” says Ethan, a third-year TMU student who wishes to go by his first name for safety reasons. “It was expired milk. So, the guy found an expired carton and basically threw it at us, and it was opened already. His full intention was to get us. And it was not by mistake. He came to the table with a carton of milk fully open. It sounds strange, but it’s what happened. And then he ran out, and we couldn’t catch him. We couldn’t really see where he went, because we were all in shock.”
The incident took place during an outreach event for Students Supporting Israel with several Israeli guests from StandWithUs Canada at the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre at 3 p.m. on Feb. 23.
They called campus security after the attack, and Ethan reported it to the Toronto Police Service (TPS) the following day, which he says is investigating it as an assault with a weapon and a hate crime.
“The Hate Crime Unit is aware of the incident. We are encouraging anyone with information to report to police ,” a TPS representative told National Post, adding that the definition of the act “would be dependent on the investigation.” The TPS Hate Crime Unit reviews and classifies reported hate-related events.
The purpose of the outreach event on Feb. 23 was to talk about “terror towards Jews,” says Ethan, including the December attack on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, that killed 15 people. “He didn’t come up to the table before to listen, to hear from us. He did it with purpose and to cause harm. We’ve had incidents in the past, but nothing to this extent on campus.”
Adding to the stress of the event, Ethan says that one of the people at the table has a milk allergy and another adheres to kosher dietary laws. And then there was the question of whether the individual had put anything in the milk. “It was weird. Getting milk on you shouldn’t really mean anything, but I was really itchy.”
TMU declined an interview request but released a statement on Feb. 24, saying that it was aware of the incident. “This is completely unacceptable behaviour, and it is being actively investigated by the university. If the individuals in question are TMU community members, the university will take action to address this in accordance with our policies.”
The university reported the assault in its list of security incidents and asked anyone with information to contact TMU Community Safety and Security .
TMU says that “support has been provided to the students in the wake of this incident,” but Ethan says that he’s only had one call with campus security asking him to provide the police report. “No one from human rights, no one from the university, no one from any mental health team has reached out to me.”
Ethan’s main concern about the university’s response is that it’s “turning a blind eye to antisemitism.” He’d like to see protection for Jewish and Israeli students at the university and for TMU to introduce “concrete measures to combat antisemitism, antisemitism training for professors, and also the (adoption) of the IHRA definition,” referring to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism . “I’m just afraid that no student will be reprimanded, and that antisemitism will still continue at TMU,” he says.
According to the TPS Hate Crimes Dashboard , “Jewish” was the most prevalent bias category in 2024 — the most recent year reflected in the statistics, which are updated annually. Of the 443 total hate crimes in Toronto in 2024, 176 were linked to a Jewish religion bias. This represents a 20.5 per cent increase from the previous year. Nearly 16 per cent of these hate crimes resulted in an arrest being made.
In 2023, of the 372 total hate crimes, 146 were connected to a Jewish religion bias, an increase of 73.8 per cent since 2022. The TPS made arrests in 6.8 per cent of these cases.
The TPS defines a hate crime as “a criminal offence committed against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by bias, prejudice or hate based towards an “identifiable group” based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression or any other similar factor.”
Ethan says that this isn’t his first experience with antisemitism at TMU. “Everything kind of feels numb to me at this point because I’m so used to being threatened at school, in my classes, walking on campus — and I’m not the only one.”
Having started his studies in September 2023, one month before the October 7, 2023, attacks that killed more than 1,200 Israelis, Ethan feels that he hasn’t had a “normal” university experience.
“TMU has been particularly bad at not stopping antisemitism at the university, or kind of brushing it over,” he says. “I’ve been spat on. I’ve been pushed. I’ve been harassed. I’ve had to hide my Jewish star (the Star of David). Actually, I haven’t been wearing it because my parents don’t want me wearing it. That’s been my experience at TMU.”
Ethan adds, “My hope is just that the police continue to do the investigation because I don’t feel that TMU security, or TMU, will get to the bottom of the situation.”
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